February 8, 2025
a building with a sign that says barclay's center

Barclays IT Outage: How a Glitch Affected Lives and Transactions

Picture yourself outside your new house with a truck loaded with your belongings, however, you are unable to access your bank account. This was a nightmare turned reality for most Barclays customers due to the severe IT outage which created a dent in online banking. Over the weekend, stories began circulating about the many customers who were unable to perform essential transactions like buying groceries, some of them even being on the brink of homelessness. We’ll be touching on the consequences of this outage, the personal stories of those affected by the outage, along with what the bank tried to do to solve the issue.

What Happened?

A Timeline of IT Issues

Barclays had to tackle very serious IT issues from Friday onwards. This malfunction could not have come at a more inappropriate time, right as most customers had just received their paycheck, or were about to file their self-assessment tax returns. Imagine trying to complete transactions at a bank that’s system is out of order. It was a perfect storm in terms of customer service and satisfaction.

On Saturday, things only got worse. Reports began flooding in with approximately 4,000 issues being reported on Downdetector. Payments and balances could not be accessed by customers, nor could payments be made. On top of that, the rest of the weekend was also completely spoiled due to most people being stuck without having access to funds.

Summarized Customer Grievances and Complaints

Customers vented their concerns and frustrations through varying channels. The issues reported ranged from mere payment issues to inability to access important funds. Some were trying to buy groceries while others were trying to finalize their home purchases.

  • Diane Forrest voiced her worries, stating, “I was supposed to complete the sale on a house on Friday.” She said that she waited outside of her new house for hours without being able to move in.
  • Tim Horner, an entrepreneur, complained, “I have lost thousands of pounds because my online shop does not make any sales.” He suffered due to the bank’s lack of payment services.
  • Other customers like Ruth, a selfemployed cleaner, needed access to the savings for basic living expenses. “We need the money to do shopping,” she reasons, illustrating the effects of this on families.

Barclays Primary Reactions

Barclays made statements as the issue started revealing more problems. They accepted that there were problems, but did not explain what the issue was. A spokesperson said that “we are doing everything we can to resolve the issue” and made clear that no expenditure would be incurred by customers.

“When their responses came in, it appeared that as many customers were satisfied as there were unsatisfied, and their problems did not seem to be getting addressed.” Self-help was considered insufficient as Barclays suggested that those having difficulties should ask help from family or friends.

Furthermore, fraudsters were to be on the look out for Barclays customers who, at this stage, were told to remain alert for particular fraud attempts. They were specifically told that “Barclays scam messages tend to increase during periods like these.” This was supplied on top of all of the other stress that customers who already had issues accessing Barclays were dealing with.

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Effects On The Community And People

These IT issues had a wide ranging effect. It is known that Barclays processes over 40% of the entire card transactions in the UK. Those having to bear the brunt of their systems going offline constitute a very large part of the population. The ripple effects affected retailers, small businesses, and normal people like any other bunch.

People could not believe this was happening, especially being unable to access their funds during such critical times. The frustration was palpable. For some it wasn’t just an issue of convenience it was a life and death scenario.

Over the weekend, Barclays kept claiming that they were working on solving the issues. However, one question remained unanswered – how was it possible for a bank of such stature to reach this level in the first place?

Like most people, the weekend was filled with frustration and anxiety. Customers were left to deal with the mess Barclays created as the bank focused on resolving the issue with minimal assistance to the customers.

Disrupted Lives: Customer Accounts

An IT failure at a top bank like Barclays can have devastating effects on everyday people. The clients of the bank are not mere numbers; they are actual human beings with real lives to tend to. The experiences of people impacted by the outage reveal the complex web of difficulties many had to endure. Here are some of the experiences they reported.

Collection of Personal Experiences

  • A large section of customers faced having no access to their accounts.
  • Crucial activities ranging from buying simple groceries to selling properties were halted.

Let’s consider Diane Forrest for a moment. She was just completing the sale of her house when she realized she was stuck sitting outside her new house for over four hours. All her possessions were in a removal truck, but there were no resources made available to her. “I sat outside the new house with all my possessions in a removal truck for over four hours, yet no solution could be made available,” she explains. How infuriating is that?

Effects on Families and Small Enterprises

They were not the only ones to face this challenge. The small companies also had a share of the burden. In Petworth, businessman Tim Horner defaulted on payments to his staff as well as to HMRC. With a plethora of incoming calls from customers desperately trying to conduct transactions on his ecommerce site, he complained, “I have lost thousands of pounds because my online store can’t process payments. It’s impossible to use our Barclays business account.” But, this brings us to an important question: How do these small companies weather these storms?

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Many Different Customers Faced Different Situations During The Outage

Ruth, a freelance domestic cleaner, could not retrieve any funds from her limited savings account, which posed a unique problem for her. The self-employed cleaner needed to buy milk and food for her children.

“We have to buy groceries but don’t have any cash handy, only a card,” she says. Well, picture fitting in her situation, it isn’t very pleasant with children dependent on one for their basic needs.

Then, we have Emily who recounted an equally grim and sickening story. “I am practically homeless with my 2 kids and 2 cats,” she has said. After failing to secure a tenancy into her new house, she was left sitting on a friend’s couch. All of her belongings were trapped in a removal van that she could not access. For her, the emotional burden of that situation is beyond measure.

Rampant Agony

Bulk of clients reported quite horrifying stories that depicted missed payments for crucial healthcare services. Indeed there has been an outage, but the impact was too far reaching. The worst part about it is that it happened on a Friday which was pay day for many, and added to this, they had services that depended on these payments. Clients and customers were left confused wondering how meeting their obligations was achievable.

Customers and clients were left confused wondering how meeting their obligations was achievable. Barclays assured that they were “doing their best to rectify the problem” and would make certain that none of the customers impacted by the outage would suffer financially. For other people like Diane, Tim, Ruth, and Emily, it is already too late. Their lives changed in a way that they least expected.

Ultimately, the experiences of these clients show that banking system failures are not merely technical problems. They are personal catastrophes that impact families and business at a far deeper level. The humanity of the issue is often obscured in the figures, but the numbers tell the narrative finest.

The Wider Consequences: The Clash of Banking Automation and Technology

It is hard to imagine a world where you do not need a smartphone to bank. Everything, starting from paying your bills to moving your money around, is dependent on the application working. But what if these systems fail? The breakdowns of Barclays, one of the biggest banks in Britain, has much more worrying implications to our over reliance on digital banking.

Increased Dependence on Automated Banking

Let’s be honest: the majority of us do not recall our last visit to a bank branch. Barclays has over 20 million UK retail clients and processes more than 40% of credit and debit card transactions in the region. Those are phenomenal figures! When you think about it, it’s not simply about ease of use. It’s about survival.

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Consider having to purchase baby formula or move house and finding that your banking app is not accessible. This was the situation with a good number of Barclays customers affected by a recent IT outage. The increased reliance on technology means that the failure of these systems comes at a great cost and, in many cases, leads to financial havoc. When encountering such issues, it’s easy to dismiss it as a temporary glitch but for countless people, it can bring a lot of trouble.

Effects of Outages on Customer Trust

Outages can have devastating consequences. Trust is incredibly valuable. If you are unable to withdraw your funds or perform payments, what makes you think you can trust that bank in the future? A Barclays spokesperson put the mind of consumers at rest by saying,

“We will make sure no customer loses money because of late payments due to this issue.”

But how soothing is that when you find yourself in a situation where you can not access your money.

Long term impact of customer dissatisfaction is very damaging. A lot of people were posting angry comments on social media. Some people reported they could not pay their employees or even buy food. And the grievances are not only towards one bank, but the entire industry. The extent of reputational damage can be so great that it has the potential to cripple the entire banking industry in respect to retention and sign ups.

Learning from the Past: A Comparison with Previous Outages

The banking system has not been a stranger to outages over the years. Users of the PayPal platform were left without access to their funds during their around the world black out. Similarly, in June 2024, numerous customers across different banks, even Barclays, reported failure in processing payments. These remind us that not even the strongest institution is easily shielded from technology blackout failures.

So, what is the lesson learned from this? First, the stakes could not be higher. With the adoption of digital banking, robust infrastructure investment is imperative. Institutions should also be capable of meeting unanticipated demands during peak periods like tax season or the end of the month.

As far as I can tell, the latest Barclays outage is a clear indicator of caution. The customers have to understand the various technology risks that accompany banking. We get told about how handy mobile apps and internet banking is, but the reality is, it comes with a trust cost. Services that seek to and claim to help should not refuse assistance out of convenience. The technology used in banking systems today needs to serve customer’s requirements, not their interests. In the world today where everything is digital, trust can be the only thing of value.

TL;DR Barclays mismanaged an IT outage, causing a major disruption to both online and mobile banking for customers and personal banking activities which resulted in unfortunate experiences.

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